Kokoen Garden

Kokoen Garden lies next to Himeji Castle, Himeji, Japan and is a recently constructed Japanese style garden, which was opened in 1992 on the former site of of the feudal lords' west residence (Nishi-Oyashiki). It consists of nine separate gardens designed in various garden styles of the Edo period.  

Among the gardens are the garden of the lord's residence which features a pond with a waterfall, a tea garden where visitors can enjoy green tea in a tea ceremony house, a pine tree garden, a bamboo garden and a flower garden. 

Cherry Blossom

April is a good time to visit New York .... the weather is not too cold and the streets are full of blooming cherry blossom trees. The picture above was taken in the Greenwich Village area and with the colourful springtime flowers also making a show this really made the streets look great. 

Rape

This bright and vivid yellow splash of colour seen in many of the fields in Scotland at this time of year is rapeseed which is grown for the production of canola oil.

Rapeseed (Brassica napus), also known as rape, oilseed rape, rapa, rappi, rapaseed (and in the case of one particular group of cultivars, canola) is a bright yellow flowering member of the family Brassicaceae (mustard or cabbage family). The name derives from the Latin for turnip, rāpa or rāpum, and is first recorded in English at the end of the 14th century. Older writers usually distinguished the turnip and rape by the adjectives round and long(-rooted) respectively. See also Brassica napobrassica, which may be considered a variety of Brassica napus. Some botanists include the closely related Brassica campestris within B. napus. Rapeseed was the third leading source of vegetable oil in the world in 2000.

Life After Death

This flower appeared to be thriving in this old graveyard in Prague, Czech Republic demonstrating the power of life while surrounded by death.

Colour Splash

This beautiful bed of flowers spotted in Budapest, Hungary provided a splash of colour in contrast to many of the rather drab grey communist buildings.

Interflora - Vietnam Style

Flower and plant delivery by bicycle in Ho Chi Minh City by a man in an appropriate "green" hat.

Wild Red Ginger

This beautiful wild red ginger flower was spotted during a visit to the Mae Fah Luang Art and Cultural Park in Chiang Rai, Thailand.